JNU Students' Union gets evicted from its office

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has asked its students’ union (JNUSU) to vacate the union office by today, October 16, to “ prevent misuse of University property.”

The notice was issued by Umesh Ashok Kadam, the dean of students, on October 15. It says the union is allotted one room at the Students Activity Centre but “the JNUSU for the academic year 2018-’19 has not been notified...due to non-compliance of Lyngdoh Committee Report” and “the JNUSU for the academic year 2019-’20 is yet to be notified”.

In effect, the union for 2019-’20, which was elected last month, is getting evicted.

The notice says the “room shall be locked immediately" and it will be handed over the the JNUSU "after notification of the same”. The union must “vacate the room on or before 5 pm on 16.10.2019” and if it doesn’t, the university administration “will double lock” the room.

'Legitimised by students'

In its statement issued on October 16, the JNUSU countered that it is “elected by the students of JNU and legitimised by them” and that the “orders and judgements of the Delhi High Court have recognised this”.

The statement further says the JNUSU office is “a symbol of the JNU student community’s right to representation and unionize, that has been entrusted to JNUSU”.

The students’ union has called for a sit-in to protest against what they consider a gross violation of the student community’s rights.

On-going conflict

This is the latest development in an on-going conflict between the recently-elected union and the administration which began during the election in September. It took the intervention of the Delhi High Court to declare the results. Despite that, it was not invited to attend the Academic Council meeting on October 15.

Even the JNU Teachers’ Association was edged out. According to a statement issued by them on October 15 evening, the association’s secretary, Avinash Kumar, was “allowed to enter the meeting hall, his attendance was marked, but within few minutes he was told that he cannot attend the meeting”.

Ayurveda, Music, Dance

At this meeting, JNU passed - allegedly without discussion - a new school for “traditional music and dance” and according to news reports, a five-year BSc-MSc programme in “Ayurveda Biology”. The last will be offered by the existing School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies.

The dean, Girish Jha, told The Telegraph that “candidates will be selected through an entrance exam which will have sections on Sanskrit and the sciences, including physics, chemistry and biology” and that this is not intended to be a medicine course but its “graduates would be able to seek employment in Ayurvedic product companies, research institutions and schools”. “The idea is to improve Sanskrit teaching in schools and make Sanskrit more attractive for school students,” he said.

The Teachers’ Association has opposed this. In a statement issued on October 16, it said the proposed School of Indian Traditional Music and Dance was “passed without any discussion”. The statement said: “Concerns raised by faculty members about why the proposal … was not brought at the Academic Council in the first place; why the existing School of Arts and Aesthetics was not …consulted ….; why there was a need felt for a new school when the existing school is already teaching and researching on the same issues…were all brushed aside at the meeting.” Teachers have also taken exception to the use of the term “traditional” in the name as it “conflicts with the modernity of these”.

Photo credit: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union